Hey!

So I was instructed by a garage to bleed the brakes which I intend to do this afternoon and I've done it before but not on a Fiat but on my old car, all I want to know is the procedures and what size spanner will I need to open the bleeding nipple? I know one person has to keep pumping the brake pedal then once bleeding is done keep pedal down until bleep nipples are closed.

But if someone can run me through the procedures I'd be grateful

Also where are the front axle stand points?

Thanks!

IIRC they are 8mm front and 7mm back. The bleeding nipples may once have been 7/8mm. Almost certain they're not now especially if they've corroded. Your spanner marked X may also once have been X mm , probably not now especially cheaper open ended jobbies. The back nipples are the worst for this as they can be almost impossible to open and if the tool whatever size is not a good fit they will be rounded off in no time. Don't let the level in the reservoir drop too low or air will get dragged in and don't let the pedal pusher overdo it by pushing too far past the normal range of pedal travel and flipping the seals backwards. Do the clutch slave while you're at it.

If you insist on doing it the 2 person way, bleeding order is longest pipe run first, so, rear offside, rear nearside, front offside, front nearside.

Use a 6 flat socket to open the nipple initially, a 6 flat spanner to open and close while you're bleeding. 8mm should be correct. Using open ended spanners is a surefire way of buggering up the nipples.

So, shout "push", open the nipple, close it, shout "stop" and so on.

There are cheap one man kits, the important thing with them is not to over-open the nipple.

unless you is very lucky i wouldnt fancy undoing the front nipples at least
in fact i dont ever remember undoing those chocolate things with success ever
its da pipe for me everytime but too difficult to explain

might be one job to leave to garage?
if its got old mank stuff in the ends

The bleed nipples are often corroded to the eye balls - there right in the firing line from the road

the front caliper ones are a little bit better tbh....

But plenty of brake cleaner to remove the old crappo

Then plenty of WD40 / Penatrating fluid, to potentially help

But they are clearly Rusted up to the eye balls
Consider new rear cylinders

Bleeding 2 man way
man in car pumps pedal
Then when the man at the nipple shouts Down - the man in the car presses the pedal to the floor
At that point - he shouts Down
Man on the nipple closes it - and shouts up
When man i car shouts up he pumps the pedal if required
But basically you keep going till you are sure there is NO AIR in the system

A Tyre pressure bleeder is a wonderful piece of kit
£20 - it makes it a 1man job
And reduces the risk alot of air getting into the system
UNLESS you run out of fluid
Which means you start again


ziggy

I dislike the pressure ones with a vengeance. The one way valve ones are less than a tenner, the vacuum ones around 20 - 40 quid. Both are, IMHO, way better.

With the right socket, given that no eedjut has fubred the nipples before, I never have any problems.;

Do use a penetrating fluid rather than WD40 -- GT 85 is under offer in many places at the moment.

any oil is useless because the thread is in the fitment so if the oil could get in to free it then the brake fluid could get out

anyway

give all bleed nipples a few good cracks with your hammer before trying to shear them off
this shocks them in their threads and will work wonders just like woolies did

Depends if you are scrapping the brake fluid in the entire system or not

If you are - heat does work
But be careful
Brake fluid is flamable....

I prefer the spray - tap - try - snap - replace method

Ziggy

Ziggy122 said:

Depends if you are scrapping the brake fluid in the entire system or not

If you are - heat does work
But be careful
Brake fluid is flamable....

I prefer the spray - tap - try - snap - replace method

Ziggy

Click to expand...

bad advise
never use heat near brake components
the seals will fail today tomorrow next week if you do
if they are that bad remove/replace
your life depends on them
and never use a repair kit
keep them for 1932 lagondas

any oil is useless because the thread is in the fitment so if the oil could get in to free it then the brake fluid could get out

Click to expand...

If that were the case, no penetrating oil would ever work. As a matter of plain fact, the seal of a bleed nipple is formed by the conical section at the very end of the nipple and its counterpart in the caliper -- the thread has no part in it except to apply pressure to the conical sections.

s and b said:

bad advise
never use heat near brake components
the seals will fail today tomorrow next week if you do
if they are that bad remove/replace
your life depends on them
and never use a repair kit
keep them for 1932 lagondas

Click to expand...

Kinda contradictive? brakes = Kinetic energy into heat energy

I know what your saying - extreme heat avoid but a hairdrier or very low level heatgun wont do damage

I dont like idea of naked flames near brakes, you dont know whats been leaking

Ziggy

fingers99 said:

If that were the case, no penetrating oil would ever work. As a matter of plain fact, the seal of a bleed nipple is formed by the conical section at the very end of the nipple and its counterpart in the caliper -- the thread has no part in it except to apply pressure to the conical sections.

Click to expand...

fair enough
but unless you can start the process of removal off then dousing it is basically going to do very little
banging it on top hopefully will allow a little penetrating oil to help with removal
i often wonder how many people know the process of undo a little tighten undo a little bit more tighten soo as to allow the fixing to come out without snapping?
i tried to undo the roll bar bolts on an arm earlier in the week and as soon as i put pressure on the bolt i knew it was going to shear
i left it on and got a helper instead to pull the arm down so i could get the strut off

Thanks for the input guys I have bleeded the brakes and it's so sharp just like any car should be it took a lot of sweat and cursing as you do with anything car related

But I do need to get new nipples as I had to use mole grips to undo them, due to whoever did it before me used mole grips without even attempting to use a spanner :shakehead: but less of the moaning least I have good brakes now!

Again thanks guys for all your inputs

Yes
And you can put a thin line of copper slip on the THREADS
not the face where the tiny hole is for bleeding

If you can get the correct size - whip out - whip in - and rebleed

Also - invest in nipple covers - they do help reduce cack on them
But for how long - depends on how many fords you drive through


Ziggy

very rare i do so i guess im okay in that sense anyway of replacing the bolts on the nipples?

bennyyboy said:

very rare i do so i guess im okay in that sense anyway of replacing the bolts on the nipples?

Click to expand...

The bolts near them are what hold the wheel cylinder into place if that what you mean?

Ebay link
New nipples are easily got - but i dont know the pitch or diameter of the nipple...

ziggy

Cheers for the link, didn't realise they were that cheap! So how would I get the old ones out that are very rounded?

liberal application of penetrating oil, gentle taps with hammer, wait, more taps, mpre oil, mole grips, pray to your god.

BUT if rears, new slave cylinders are very cheap, may as well replace. They come with new nipples.

fingers99 said:

liberal application of penetrating oil, gentle taps with hammer, wait, more taps, mpre oil, mole grips, pray to your god.

BUT if rears, new slave cylinders are very cheap, may as well replace. They come with new nipples.

Click to expand...

it's only the fronts that are rounded the rears are fine thankfully

My question is tho
How did he get air in the brakes?

did he boil his brake fluid?

ziggy